I put pureed veggies into DD's spaghetti sauce one time, and she ate it that way, ONE time. It was like she caught on and refused it after that. I guess the taste of the sauce was too different. I don't have advice to offer, but I can understand how he would notice and refuse to eat the pureed stuff.

My son use to love his veggies, but not as much now. What he will eat are veggie soups (with a tomato broth). I heat up the soup and then just give him the soft veggies and he actually eats them! I was shocked. We do that and also the veggie/fruit pouches and call it good. Just keep offering different items and I'm sure he'll warm up to them. Good luck mama!

Watching this thread..DS is becoming picky as well. He won't eat meat (well, he NEVER has!) or vegetables. He will eat fruit and grains and drink milk but thats about it.

He has gotten so picky that I'm scared to know what will happen when I run out of my freezer stash of milk. I'm cutting back on my pumping (down to 3 instead of 4) but my supply is way down so I'm only pumping about 10oz per day now and he takes about 15 at daycare. My plan was to supplement with my freezer stash until I ran out (I think it will make it the rest of the school year) and then supplement with cows milk. I won't be able to pump at work next year, but now I"m scared he won't drink cows milk...then what will I do???

in my opinion he is being a picky eater and refusing the veggies because you will give him other 'fun' things if he doesnt want the veg, stop offering him other things and he'll eat them soon enough.

yup.

I keep saying it over and over, but I'm a really mean mommy. My kids get what I make them at meal time. They either eat it or don't. It's their choice. And, I start that around a year old. Probably earlier - whenever they can throw food usually.

So, in your shoes, I'd toss out the "garbage food" (as I lovingly call the stuff mentioned in your OP (and that is not meant to offend you at all, as my own kids eat "garbage food" too!)) and only offer a full nutrional meal.

For me, that means, I'd give my kid some chicken, some peas, and some potatoes (all cut up and measured out appropriately) for a meal. They would eat until they were done eating (which for us means when they start playing/throwing food or when they leave the table), and that would be the end of the meal. Whatever is left is offered for the next meal. And so on until either -- the food can't be offered anymore b/c it's been out too long (in which case it's replaced by the next meal), OR, the kid finishes it.

This is how we do meal times. It really cuts back on the pickiness. And if they want to be picky, I don't need to try to coerce them to eat what they don't want b/c they understand that they will be hungry until the next meal time, and that is their choice. I am okay with them making that choice for themselves, as I believe it is a natural consequence for being a picky eater. (I'm a picky eater myself and there are times that I have to go without eating b/c I am just too picky to eat what is offered. So, I don't think that teaching my kids this way is at all cruel, it's just life. You don't want to eat what I give you, that's ok, but you will probably be hungry for a while.)

Doing things this way also cuts back on the waste. Which is a really big deal to me. I can't stomach driving past the homeless people begging for food and knowing I just threw away half a can of peas b/c my kids smashed them rather then eating them!